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ED quizzes Robert Vadra for 2nd day; confronted with papers regarding illegal UK properties

Earlier on Wednesday, Vadra denied owning, directly or indirectly, any property in London and having any association with the absconding arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari and his cousin Summit Chadha.

ED quizzes Robert Vadra for 2nd day; confronted with papers regarding illegal UK properties

Robert Vadra arrives to appear before Enforcement Directorate in New Delhi on Feb 7, 2019. (Photo: IANS)

Robert Vadra, husband of Priyanka Gandhi was again on Thursday questioned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for a short period of time at the Jamnagar House, New Delhi, over allegations of money laundering and owning several properties worth millions of dollars in London, the UK, that were purchased between 2005 and 2010.

A team led by Joint Director and two Deputy Directors questioned Vadra, news agency ANI reported.

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Vadra, brother-in-law of Congress President Rahul Gandhi was earlier on Wednesday grilled for over five hours by the agency after he appeared before it in connection with a money laundering case following a court order to join the investigation.

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According to an ED official, Vadra was asked questions related to transactions, purchase, and possession of certain immovable assets in London.

According to reports, Vadra was confronted with the emails of one Manoj Arora. The emails reportedly concerned with the UK properties and their renovation.

Arora is a former employee of Skylight Hospitality LLP, a firm linked to Vadra. Arora’s role was detected during the investigation in another case against arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari.

Vadra has denied owning, directly or indirectly, any property in London. He also denied having any acquaintance or association with the absconding arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari and his cousin Summit Chadha, said the sources.

The ED’s case relates to the ownership of 1.9 million pounds of undisclosed assets abroad, allegedly belonging to Vadra.

The ED counsel has told a city court earlier that the London property was part of the kickbacks received in a petroleum deal. The money was transferred by Santech International, FZC, a UAE-based company controlled by Bhandari.

Vadra had in December last year said that he would cooperate and not run away to some other country, adding that the process should be fair and legal.

“I haven’t done any wrong. We are not above the law, we are very much with the law. I am an Indian citizen and I am not running away anywhere,” Vadra had said.

Enforcement Directorate officials had in December carried out raids at multiple locations linked to Robert Vadra in Delhi and Bengaluru.

Delhi’s Patiala House Court had on Saturday granted interim protection to Robert Vadra till February 16 in the money laundering case.

Vadra, who was dropped to the ED office by wife Priyanka, has called the cases against him a political witch-hunt.

“I stand by my husband,” Priyanka told reporters before entering the Congress party office at Akbar Road on Wednesday after dropping husband Robert Vadra at the ED office.

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